Wednesday, January 6, 2016

We left Aldeia de Paz on December 29th with a spectacular send off.
Everyone waiving white kankies, later I discovered that the nuns had filled our camper with so much food stuff, sister Tahita had baked a big container of oatmeal cookies and Sister Maris a Christmas cake and for Norbert a case of beer and lots of chocolates and other sweets also Macaroni and rice. No  surprise we left with a heavy heart and miss them already.
We drove to Goias where we parked at a hotel, and visited the historical town. Next day we went to Caldas Novas after our GPS send us on a 200 km detour and to top it off the road was very bad, full of potholes which made max. speed 20km ph. When we got to the hot springs thy wanted 320 Reales for camping, so we said thank you and drove on towards Uberlandia.
There we found a nice gas station with a Churasceria (steakhouse) free showers and Internet where we spent the nite. Next day on to Ilha Comprida were there was a fiesta and a grass field next to the beach for camping. There we met Jao and Nathalie and their family. Thy invited us for lunch and a nice walk on the beach. As usual, everyone wanted to see the camper and take pictures. All afternoon people came over and asked if thy could see the camper and take pictures. Everyone wanted to kow about our travels, where we had been and how we like Brazil.
That nite it rained very hard and when we woke up the field had transformed in to a lake, lucky we made it out.
Next stop was Bombinhas, again a terrible road in but the town and beaches are well worth it.
There is an entrance fee of 48 Reais and when we went to pay it turned in to 72.0
We went to the tourist office to complain and were told that the rate had changed on the computer on 1-1-2016 but thy had not received the new sheets to post them.
Antonio Olimpia, director of the office tried to reimburse us but as we had to pay with credit card, thy could not apply a credit.
Antonio offers to take us in his car on a tour of the area and we got to see many places tourists do not see and also learned the history of Bombinhas. After lunch we also got to use their internet. Thank you Antonio and staff.
We found a nice place to park right by the beach in a residential area were we spent the afternoon on the beach.
Many Argentines vacation here and we met some from Entre Rios Arg. That evening we talked to the owner of the house across the street and so we met the Nicoletti Family. Celso and Bete and Breno (13 who speaks English very well) and Lara, (9 also starting to speak English) and extended family. We were offered the use of their bathroom and shower and invited for pizza.
Breno played the guitar and all did some singing. We had a very nice and late evening and were also invited for breakfast which was delicious.
The hospitality and friendliness of the Brazilians is wonderful, wherever we go we are treated as family. Nowhere else on our travels has this been so pronounced. 
We Love Brazil and its people.
By now our camper must be the most photographed automobile in Brazil, anywhere we park, people take pictures of the front, back and license plate. On the freeway people honk, give us the thumbs up and waive, and without fail, out comes the cellphone or camera. Some have even followed us in to the gas station and given us a gift.
Lucky I did bring some Canadian souvenirs to give, but now I have run out so I give Canadian coins.
So far we have seen only three foreign campers here and thy were from Europe so Canada is rare.
Hugs to all.
Norbert and Greti






















2 comments:

  1. Hallo Ihr Zwei, schön zu lesen dass ihr so wundervolle Weihnachten verlebt habt. Das war schon ein seltener Glücksfall diese Einrichtung und diese Menschen zu treffen die alles in den Hintergrund stellen zum Wohle anderer bedürftigerer Menschen ob alt oder jung.
    Diese Begegnungen macht eure Reise umso interessanter und erfüllender. Ihr habt euch ja auch eingebracht in das Klosterleben und unermüdlich geholfen, was möglich war. Hut ab !
    Eine schöne Weiterreise auch im Jahr 2016. Weiterhin positive Erlebnisse und Begegnungen und trotzdem - passt auf euch auf und übernehmt euch nicht (N.sieht so dünn aus !)Eine gute und sichere Heimkehr wann immer das sein wird. Liebe Grüsse von Rita und Günter und dem ganzen Clan.

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  2. Genial haberlos conocido! Lástima que no pudimos compartir más tiempo. Son un ejemplo a seguir. Irradian vida. Nuestros mejores deseos. Besos mil. Desde Entre Ríos, Argentina. Ricardo y Viviana

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